47 — Diana here. Sorry that you had so little luck at the mansion. It’s really hard to tell where Vittorio was taken. We lost track of him at the airport.
The Agency does, however, feel that we fulfilled our end of the deal, and expect you to comply with the terms by completing a minor assignment at St. Petersburg. Your objective is to take out an ex-KGB officer, participating in a secret meeting, solely arranged so that you can take a clean shot at this officer.
The meeting is taking place at 1300 hours today in the Pushkin Building on Varosnij Square. The room is on the 2nd floor in the west wing, overlooking the square. The windows are marked on the attached image. The building is the former FSB headquarters, and can only be accessed from the square. There’s one main entrance and a back entrance - both heavily guarded by FSB paramilitary personnel.
The target must be eliminated during the meeting, which is scheduled to last 5 minutes.
Absolutely nobody in the meeting room except the target must be harmed. This is very important, 47. Upon arrival by metro you will find your equipment paraphernalia in locker # 137 at the station. Your escape route is returning with the train.
Avoid all contact with soldiers and guards. They are instructed to remove any civilians from the area.
OK, my thoughts: overall a great mission even if it is very much designed to be built around the Sniper Rifle and disguise. Sure, you can do SO quite easily and also without the Sniper, but it’s quite clear that the other methods aren’t intentional. Still, there’s a lot to like about the mission. Whether it’s the crisp sound of the snow underfoot or the way you’re slowly fed clues to the target until it finally clicks. It’s a great tutorial for sniping targets, and holds up reasonably well in a playthrough.
I usually forgo the Sniper Rifle on my playthrough since the other generals in the meeting don’t actually count if they see you assassinate the target, making Silent Assassin a doddle provided that you know who the target is. I personally run in and Fiber Wire him in front of everyone!
My only gripe is that the long walk to the main building from the station is quite long - especially as there’s nothing much to do inside or around the starting area.
A small issue for sure, and a great start to what is a very strong set of missions.
This is where my love for the Hitman series first began. I never played C47 but walking around a snowy Russian map, hearing 47’s footsteps in the snow. Jesper Kyd’s awesome soundtrack accompanying me around.
The atmosphere of that mission was incredible. There’s something about a snowy mission in Hitman which just feels perfect. I remember first time the sheer panic in shooting the target and then hastily leaving the apartment block before the guards swarmed me.
This is a great second mission. It really makes you feel like a real assassin. It’s like classic old school assassination style. I love the atmosphere of the subway station and picking the lock to the locker. I love how the map feels massive, and the way the apartment building is fully modeled even the parts that aren’t used.
Something special about the early 2000s late 90s grounded game feeling in this mission.
I always got a little annoyed by the one guard who patrols in the apartment. I never really could figure out what we were supposed to do with him as he always caused an alert when you fire the shot. In my approach I chloroform him in the attic/loft of the apartment building so he doesn’t cause an alert and also because I wanted to find a reason to use the night vision and show that loft area since there doesn’t seem to be another use for it.
I think this mission does a great job establishing the tone of the game
Oh, wow! I haven’t known about that attic’s existence until now, even though it’s actually marked on the map. I guess I’ve simply never bothered to explore the apartment building any further once I found the right vantage point.
I also haven’t been aware of the precise cause of the alert after performing the kill. I’ve always assumed the guards outside must have heard the loud shot through the open windows. Cool seeing you deal with that guard through the attic’s darkness using the nightvision!
Villa Borghese was a great introduction to the game but this mission was the one that really cemented my love for the series.
The grandeur of Jesper’s music, the contrast of emerging from the dim sewers into bright falling snow, crunching your way to the sniping spot whilst the tension meter is giving you sweaty palms. Good times.
Of course, many missions across the six games have since overtaken St. Petersburg in my rankings (such as the GOAT… Beldingford Manor) but this level will always have a special place in my memory. It was basically the catalyst for my Hitman journey, I completed the game and promptly went and bought C47 a week later.
Oh yeah that’s absolutely true I love that about H2SA how it takes the most stereotypical historic versions of all the countries and meshes them aesthetically into the modern day. Yakuza are using castles and ninjas, and are Buddhists for some reason lol, Russia is acting like soviets in the 2000s, India is all about temples and markets, etc. I love that kind of artistic direction. In my comment I was mostly talking about mechanically and like from a map and gameplay perspective rather than from a specific in-game setting perspective but you are also right about that
